In an Alternate Universe version of the Edo period, Japan was not visited by European flotillas and subtly encouraged to drop her tariffs and expand her international trade — but was visited by a race of space aliens known as the Amanto, who brought with them super-futuristic know-how and gadgets (resulting in things like mopeds, TVs and robots being invented earlier than usual), a ban on swords and the fall of the samurai caste as we know it. A resistance group set out and declared war on the Amanto to no avail, and the samurai were all but wiped from the map. Enter Gintoki Sakata, a former member of said resistance group; once an impressive swordsman, he dropped out because in the end, it really wasn't worth it to be fighting against a bunch of stupid foreigners in the first place.

Nowadays, Gintoki makes his living as a self-appointed freelancer, taking on any job he can for cash to pay his rent, but that doesn't seem to happen very often when there's sweets and Shonen Jump to be had. Joining him in his exploits are samurai-in-training Shinpachi Shimura, who winds up taking the brunt of much of the series' abuse and leads a pop idol fanclub; Kagura, a young alien girl who spends most of the time eating, beating someone up, or just generally being an idiot; and Sadaharu, Kagura's giant pet dog that gleefully chomps on everyone and anyone. A lot.

Gintama is the oft-anachronistic brainchild of Hideaki Sorachi, who had originally intended to create a manga inspired by an NHK drama about The Shinsengumi. However, despite the historical connotations that the Edo period brings, it's a Gag Series in one of its most warped states, filled with Shout Outs to everything under the sun (even fellow Shonen Jump series such as Bleach and One Piece are not immune to lampooning), over-the-top humour, ridiculous puns, sight gags and a liberal dash of action to top it all off. Stories tend to emphasize no such thing as black and white and how that plays into the Japanese concept of honor.

After the manga premiered in 2004, a one-episode OVA was produced for JUMP Festa; a TV series produced by Sunrise made its debut in April 2006 and finished running in March 2010, after which Yorinuki Gintama-san (literally "The Very Best of Gintama") followed (which was essentially just re-runs of old episodes remastered in HD with new opening and ending themes). Eventually the re-runs came to an end and, in April 2011, the anime was finally continued as Gintama' (note the dash)... Until that ended in March 2012... And returned with a new season in October... Which was cancelled in March 2013, apparently permanently.

However, at long last a new anime, Gintama° (note the circle), was announced and began airing in April 2015. Unsurprisingly, Sunrise opted out of producing it, and were replaced by Namco Bandai's newly-formed animation branch, BN Pictures. note Official company name BANDAI NAMCO Pictures Inc.

An English translation of the manga was published by Viz but cancelled after Volume 23 due to low sales. The anime is licensed by Sentai Filmworks, who have so far released the first season on 4 DVD sets, as well as the movie adaptation of the Benizakura Arc on DVD and Blu-Ray. The releases are unfortunately subs-only, though the movie came with an English dub and, according to The Other Wiki, Sentai Filmworks may or may not release more of the show depending on how well the movie does.

The anime shows a great improvement ever since its start. If the first episodes looked good enough in terms of animation and art by the time it was being aired in late 2000s, with the show's growing popularity and its later transition to an HD format, the animation of the later seasons improves a lot in quality and fluidity.

The manga itself, as well. Compare the 1st volume cover◊ with the 43rd volume cover◊, that's quite a transition in only six years for Sorachi, who rants from time to time that he doesn't draw well.

Beautiful All Along: Played with. In the Love Choris arc, Gintoki uses all-out willpower to make Pinko look this way. Of course, the justification is that adults have to use their imagination to make their now-old-and-ugly partners look more attractive.

What started the hilarious harem arc, with Gintoki waking up in a love hotel next to... Otose.

Belly Mouth: One member of Shinpachi's Otsuu fan club in an early episode is an Amanto that forms a mouth on its stomach and devours things when it gets excited.

Belligerent Sexual Tension: Sougo and Kagura mostly. Both instantly tease and provoke each other whenever they meet. He's also been getting some with Nobume too since the Baragaki Arc.

Big Damn Heroes: Gintoki gets to do this a lot (must be in the contract for a Shonen series' main protagonist). A candidate for his best one so far? Stabbing Jiraiya's hand while suddenly showing up from behind a tied-up Tsukuyo, then swatting him away.

Bifauxnen: Mutsu, who's flat chested, and talks and dresses like a man. And there's Kyubei, who sometimes desires to be in touch of her femininity, but ultimately rejects the men and women gender stereotypes that she lives through.

Bishounen: Okita is by Word of God the token bishounen. Katsura and Kamui also count, and one should certainly not forget about Honjo from Takamagahara host club. Shoyo could be considered too, after his face has been revealed.

Blade Run: Gintoki does it on Benizakura in his third fight against Nizo.

In episode 202, Kondo claims that eating Otae's omelette will allow him to forget everything bad that's happened. This is a call back to the Amnesia Arc a 150+ episodes ago where the exact thing happened to Kondo.

Bridal Carry: Gintoki carries Tsukuyo this way after freeing her from Jiraia's web, in the very ship-teasing Red Spider Arc.

Yamazaki falls victim to lots of punishment, especially from Hijikata.

Kondo, the butt gorilla, keeps getting beating after beating from Otae, in addition to whatever Matsudaira or karma has in store for him.

Zenzo takes plenty of abuse from Ayame, most of which literally aimed towards his butt—on top of his hemorrhoids—making him another literal instance of a butt monkey.

Prince Hata; you know he's going to get abused the moment you see him. Nothing good ever happens to him.

Shinpachi is the butt monkey for the Yorozuya trio, often having to put up with his companions' insults and laziness/retard-ness/plain old idiocy. The crossover episode in Sket Dance also had him being rejected by Himeko. However, he's also the Straight Man (Tsukkomi) or the mother of the crew, so he seems to be able to hold his own by yelling at Gintoki and Kagura whenever they do or say something inappropriate. Which is often.

Gintoki himself when none of the usuals are around.

Shigeshige is the heavyweight champion of this... getting painful levels of humillation in mere panels/seconds after his appearance, but remains stoic even if he is crying inside.

Cerebus Rollercoaster: Most of the time it's comedy and gag, with the occasional heart-warming or tear-jerking episode. Then it gets very serious over the course of an arc before going right back to comedy and gag until the next serious arc comes around a while later.

Remember minor character Ana Ketsuno being married (who would) WAAAAAAAY back then? 150+ chapters later, not only does she gain an important role in the Onmyoji arc, her marriage becomes a major plot point in the arc.

Kagura befriends Princess Soyo, the Shogun's little sister, in chapter 23, from which point onwards she doesn't really appear again until 364 chapters later in the Courtesan of a Nation arc, where Soyo returns with their friendship being brought up again. It's what allows the Yorozuya and Tsukuyo to enter the Shogun's castle.

One of Katsuo's minions mentions very early on that Jirocho used to be in love with Otose. This becomes a very important plot point much later in the Four Devas Arc.

Shigeshige's resignment letter to his Shogun's position that he presented to the Tendoshu in the Courtesan of a Nation arc. It was eventually "rejected" by them, but how convenient it was for them to bring it again so much later on the Shogun's Assassination arc... even after many attempts of killing him, when they recognized that he was not the Shogun, anymore.

Christmas Episode: Two episodes of characters attempting to prove that they're the real Santa to achieve their own goals. The real Santa does show up in the series, but not in this arc.

Creator Cameo: Sorachi appears in both anime and manga in the form of a gorilla, a humanoid Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal sporting a yellow t-shirt, he still is a manga-ka in this caricature of him and for some reason Gorilla Sorachi is always seen in trouble, lacking ideas for the manga he is working on.

Depraved Dentist: The dentist in episode 175 is this, complete with blood-spattered operating room, chairs with steel restraints and a chainsaw.

Diet Episode: One episode features most of the major female characters having become obese within the same time period and enrolling into a fat camp. They all go back to normal at the end of the episode after eating laxitive-laced chips.

The Shogun's Assassination arc name. Sure, Shigeshige is shown at the start to be almost killed. Hattori sacrificed one of his friends to trick the enemies (and perhaps, even the entire nation) that the Shogun was dead... but it was a "shadow" double. And everything was looking alright... until Shigeshige is killed by a childhood friend/ally, who was used by the Naraku, at the end when he was already secured. To make things worse, he dies peacefully in Soyo's lap... while the Yorozuya is reading a letter of how good things have been going for them.

There's a few Americans, like Gintoki's friend Taka-tin, the previous yorozuya whom are afro-americans and parodies of weird American action-comedy Badass heroes, and the weird American couple who shows up in some in-series commercials, the woman is a Health Freak and the man is a lazy Occidental Otaku who complains over finally getting his Mangaka carreer.

Elite Mooks: Kada's Shinra soldiers and Oboro's Naraku certainly prove to be tougher challenges than the regular Mooks faced by the cast, though they still die by the droves. Interestingly, both groups are essentially ninjas in all but name. However, the trueElite Mooks of the series are the Yato of the Harusame's 7th Division, who are quite capable of taking on named characters in small numbers and prove a major challenge.

Gintoki and Jirocho team up with each other at the end of the Four Devas Arc to take on Kada and her Elite Mooks.

In a later manga arc, Katsura and Kondo have to team up with each other (as do Katsura's Joui fraction and Shinsengumi) to escape from prison and bring down Nobunobu's oppressive rule.

Epic Fail: Oh man, too many times to count the main characters have tried to avoid making problems in situations only to make it a lot worse. The most prominent example probably has to be the Yorozuya's every encounter with the Shogun, where everything they do goes wrong in the worst possible way.

Takasugi had his eye stabbed during Shoyo's execution by Oboro. The last image he saw with his left eye? Gintoki crying when he performed the execution. Many years later, Takasugi returns the favor, and stabs Oboro's left eye as well.

Hatsu, Hasegawa Taizo's wife. Strange in that she isn't an important character at all.

Gintoki, Katsura, and Takasugi's teacher, Shoyo, at least until the Courtesan of a Nation Arc, where his face is finally shown.

Fake Memories: In the Kintama Arc, Kintoki (the evil robot counterpart of Gintoki) brainwashed almost everyone in Kabukicho and Yoshiwara with soundwaves to forget a certain main character named Gintoki Sakata. He replaces all mention and image of the silver-perm haired with his own golden-straight perm haired identity... to become the series' protagonist! Except that he couldn't replace the memories of the man himself, as well of those of Sadaharu and Tama, because the wave didn’t work on animals or other robots.

Fate Worse Than Death: An interesting contrast. Many antagonists in the more serious arcs pass away peacefully through the power of Flashback (ex. Hosen, Jiraia, Ito). On the other hand we have Kada who survives only to completely crack under incarceration.

Females Are More Innocent: Invoked. Of all the female antagonists, the only recurring one is Matako who's in it out of love for her boss. Out of the rest, Kada got imprisoned, not killed like most other male Arc Villains; Pirako got away scot-free and probably won't come back; Otohime loses her kingdom but lives on happily; and Catherine joined the Yorozuya's side early in the series. Where Nobume stands on the matter remains to be seen, as she could go either way.

Filler: There's actually very little anime-original filler, but they do occasionally pop up. The most commonly seen fillers are those involving the anime supposedly ending.

Fixing the Game: Gintama played with this trope by having a man gifted with the ability to see the flow of luck. Though as it turned out he lost that ability a few years back and has been cheating at games since then.

The entire Shinigami arc serves as this for a certain reveal. Word of God even acknowledges this- it was "something that had to happen for future reference".

The beginning of the Shogun Assassination arc with Shigeshige and Soyo foreshadows the end of the arc, only that the Shogun doesn't survive this time.

Yamazaki's past as a reformed punk gets foreshadowed ever since the Time Skip arc, where he is shown as a punk who doesn't receive orders from a nice Hijikata, in a Shinsengumi that gets corrupted by Okita. The Time Skip parasytes accomplished a deep inner wish from the victim (Kondo getting married to Tae, Kyuubei not being a man nor a woman, Kagura getting beautiful and stronger) and it looks like it is also the case for Yamazaki, since he has been scared of his superiors' strength ever since he met them... enough to turn him from a punk into the regular person he is today.

The Four Gods: The Four Heavenly Emperors of Kabukicho which rule over the district and shouldn't be confused with the Four Heavenly Emperors of the Yagyu Clan. The latter would probably be more fearsome if they weren't named after the main four romantic interests of Strawberry 100%.

Four Is Death: Chapter 444 features Madao attempting suicide and two assassins trying to stop him from killing himself while killing each other.

Fourth Wall Mail Slot: Usually run by Ginpachi-sensei, and answered in character with no regard for the fourth wall.

Notably someone asked at the end of episode 146 why Kagura's brother was animated as having black hair prior to his first proper appearance in the anime. Had they perhaps imagined it? Gin answers that they didn't imagine it.

Happens with Gintoki and Sadaharu at one point in the anime with no explanation.

An entire arc based around this happens with Gintoki and Hijikata after they got hit simultaneously by a truck... which just gets worse and worse as more characters got involved.

Funbag Airbag: Tsukuyo wants to prove to Gintoki that she's abandoned her identity as a woman by letting him touch her breasts. Gintoki would have none of it EXCEPT he saw a spider. He then falls headfirst on to Tsukuyo's breasts (and, for the hell of it, gropes them anyways), who unfortunately does not want it and does a frickin' SUPLEX on Gintoki, crashing him through the door of the druggies hideout.

Gainax Ending: Several fake ones, actually. The premise of episode 150 was that the show was abruptly ending due to lack of funds, so they threw together a final episode. Several versions of this "final episode" are shown. All of them start with a showdown between Gintoki and Takasugi and spiral downwards from there.

In one ending, Gintoki pitches a baseball at Fenway Park, Elizabeth becomes a robot and Shinpachi dies.

Gender Bender: As punishment for blurring gender roles, the followers of Dekobokko swap the gender of the residents of Kabukicho and a number of people who were coincidentally in Kabukicho at the same time, such as Kyuubei, Tsukuyo, Sa-Chan and the Shinsengumi. The only ones unaffected were Shinpachi (His glasses only turned pink) and Tae (Who was outside of Kabukicho when it happened).

Generation Xerox: Otose, Jirochou and Tatsugoro looked like Otae, Gintoki and Hijikata when they were younger. Their roles were also the same.

Genre-Busting: The series as a whole is a "sci-fi human drama historical comedy". According to Word of God, every individual chapter has its own genre.

Gosh Hornet: Subverted in chapter 269 (ep 185 anime), when Gin is hired to exterminate a beehive... filled with alien half-man half-bee gangsters. He and Kagura accidentally destroy three hives within the chapter.

The Greatest Story Never Told: In the second segment of episode 21, Gintoki essentially saves the world while looking for an electric fan. Even though the episode's Damsel in Distressautographed the fan, Shinpachi and Kagura still refused to believe him.

Great Offscreen War: The Joui War is often referenced during the course of the series and many notable characters took part in it, but only few flashbacks of the war are shown at best.

Groin Attack: Gin's tama even fell off at one point. And then got individual names. And were then slammed repeatedly into each other. Hard.

Also often evaporated or transformed into some random tool. Lampshaded in the Sket Dance Crossover Special. Since his tama were named after Bossun/Yusuke and his Rival and twin brother Sasuke.

Also lampshaded when during the arc inside Tama's body, it even gets pixelated! "Why is all the enemy fire concentrated there!?!"

Haunted Technology: The cursed Blu-Ray player. Who then becomes the cursed GPS system. She was meant to be a parody of The Ring... at first.

Healing Factor: Anyone from the Yato Clan has this. To illustrate, Kagura is able to recover from gunshot wounds over one night.

Heir to the Dojo: Subverted, in that while Shinpachi and Otae both inherited their dojo after their father's death, they're the farthest thing from rich you can think of (the dojo nearly becomes repossessed in one episode) and nobody really studies there, either. They finally start it up again in the Beam Saber Arc and Shinpachi is shown to still be teaching students in the Gender Bender Arc.

The trope is parodied in one chapter when Katsura enlists the Yorozuya (plus Sacchan) to save Elizabeth, and they have to become ninja to do so. Sacchan demands that everyone wear different, highly visible costumes because she can't tell them apart otherwise. Gin ends up in a white ninja outfit, Kagura in red, Katsura in yellow, and Shinpachi in a cow print. Their attempts to use ninja camouflage fail about as miserably as one would expect.

Hikikomori: Your Brother is a Hikikomori! "Quit being a burden and go do volunteer work or something!"

Historical In-Joke: Tons - most of the main characters are based on real people, and thus a lot of the humour comes from what alleged heroes are generally like when they're not actively being heroic. Oh, and the thing about firing a laser cannon at the capital? Happened in real life, albeit with a regular cannon. Even the customer of the Week is often a comedic version of a historical figure.

Ice-Cream Koan: "Having no money is like having a sinus infection. You just have to ignore it and not pick at it, and it’ll go away."

Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The series' chapters are styled as 'lessons', with each chapter title supposedly presenting some important life lesson. Due to the tone of the series, these "life lessons" tend to be rather wacky and nonsencial, or not even a life lesson at all as seen by the page quote. However, the episode naming has changed ever since the Shogun's Assassination arc.

Idiots Cannot Catch Colds: Defied during the episode where all the idiots get sick, leaving Shinpachi to take care of everyone.

Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: While the few named gunslingers in the series are expert marksmen, all the mooks with guns have adsurdly bad aim. Of particular note is the Kiheitai gunner during the Shinsengumi Rebellion arc firing upon Gintoki with a machine gun from a short distance and only hitting the ground around him.

Episodes 233 and 234 feature the Renho (Elizabeth's race)'s trump card for invading Earth — the Gunsam. One of them even gets hijacked in classic Gundam fashion by a guy who have the same voice actor of Amuro Ray. Lampshaded by the characters, who note that they would have been sued if the show hadn't been animated by Sunrise.

The Renho arc also features Kaien, a Combining Mecha formed of the Kaientai fleet, used to defeat the Renho's mothership.

La Résistance: The Anti-Foreigner Faction during the Joi War. Katsura and his faction try to be one in the present, but they're hilariously inept.

Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The series offer quite a good spectrum of this. Kagura, Otae, Tama, Otose, Princess Soyo and Hinowa are the Light Feminine whereas Tsukuyo, Kada,Kyuubei, Mutsu and Matako embody the Dark Feminine. Straddling the line are Sacchan, Catherine and Pirako.

In one episode, Shinpachi is seen drying several different sets of Gin's outfit on a clothesline.

Live-Action Adaptation Parodied in the anime. Although, we get a tour of what's inside the building of Sunrise.

Loads and Loads of Characters: Not as much as your average Shōnen though but there are many characters, some of which admittedly only show up for an episode or arc before disappearing... to appear until much more later when needed.

Love Is in the Air: A whole arc deals with an incense that makes people fall in love with the first person they see after smelling it. In true Gintama fashion it becomes a giant mess and turns Yoshiwara into a pit of sexual deviants... and that's saying something.

Men Are the Expendable Gender: Partially averted. The Yoshiwara Arc shows females being killed and battled casually due to the presence of an Amazon Brigade. But other than that, it is fairly rare to see a woman die, even in serious arcs.

Miniature Senior Citizens: Kyubei's grandfather Binbokusai, who happens to be a great swordsman despite his height, as well as Maizo and Suzuran. Not to mention Gintoki and almost everyone from the main cast when they got aged in the Ryugujo Arc.

Mood Whiplash: Played very straight. You WILL find yourself crying or at least on the verge of tears just watching a few of those episodes.

Or alternatively you will find yourself bawling your eyes out only to watch the ending and be filled with the inexplicable urge to throttle Sunrise and Sorachi for trolling you all while laughing your guts out because the whiplash was so harsh it became hilarious.

Mook-Face Turn: Tsukuyo manages to convince her own Hyakka to rebel against Hosen with her after having earlier defected herself to help the Yorozuya reunite Seita with Hinowa.

The Movie: Two movies so far. The first is a movie adaptation of the fan-favorite Benizakura Arc with the backing of Warner Bros. . It then got a second movie in Summer 2013 written by Sorachi himself.

Mr. Fanservice: Many of the male characters. Even with all of their... quirks. Special note goes to Gin - one year he has ranked 1 in a number of polls, including an anime husband and valentines poll.

Ms. Fanservice: Strangely enough, of the female characters only Sa-chan really applies to this, but she really pushes the broadcasting regulations to their limits.

Mundane Made Awesome: Plenty of the "battles" that occur outside of the more serious arcs. And sometimes they don't have to be battles.

Mundane Object Amazement: In Episode 111, Kagura received an umbrella with a flower pattern from Gintoki. This is followed by a montage (with a nice melody) of Kagura strolling around the streets happily, the montage is repeated with slightly heavy rain with more rock added into the music. She still went out with the umbrella even when there's a typhoon rampaging outside.

Never Trust a Trailer: The in-magazine post chapter previews attracted some criticism in Japan because they were always made in the early stages of writing the chapter in question, meaning that the preview and the actual story always ended up completely different to the point of being funny. It was quite common to have a wacky-sounding preview like "Gin enters a marathon!" only for next week's story to be deadly serious. Very likely intentional, this being Gintama after all.

New Powers as the Plot Demands: Parodied. The main trio is suddenly brought into another dimension by a sage to learn new, secret techniques, but all of them believe that they're strong enough already and actively avoid learning anything.

The most known and big example is the Popularity Poll Arc. It starts with the announcement of the results of a fan poll to determine the most popular characters that people voted in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in 2009. The arc (spanning four chapters and three episodes) proper is entirely based on the results of this poll, with several characters depressed over having finished lower than expected while others gloat over their good showings. Also, every time anyone appears onscreen and on-panel, a number floats above their head reminding the viewer what place they got. And then shenanigans happen, from Otae CLIMBING OUT OF THE FRAME announcing she would kill the character who placed ahead of her (being the series creator), and people FIGHTING over their popularity, to form alliances with others to claim their places, etc.

The lack of a fourth wall somehow works both ways—the author once told an anecdote that when a rumour spread about Chinese women coming and going from his apartment, he (in a sleep-deprived state) initially wondered if they were talking about Kagura, before reminding himself that she isn't real.

And the characters (mostly Shinpachi) often wonder if the constant parodies, references and such would serve a proper sue for them.

Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Tendoshu, a council of twelve Amanto who are the true power behind the Bakufu. While introduced early on and are important to the backstory of the series, they've only rarely appeared and don't really become important to the story again until the Courtesan of a Nation Arc.

Only Six Faces: It's noted and lampshaded early on, but it's not actually used.

Onmyodo: The Shirino and Ketsuno clans are both composed entirely of Onmyoji.

Katsura's tales that have nothing to do with the plot of the chapter taking place. One example is in episode 110, Katsura was led into counting sheeps so he could fall asleep. On the 13th sheep, he began fantasizing an elaborate and sad tale in High School A.U. style for this 13th sheep for a full 4 minutes!

People mistaking Shinpachi's glasses for him.

Chapter 314, Kyubei gives a long name to the monkey she was taking care of. Its name is Jugem-Jugem Poop-Throwing Machine Shin-chan's Day Before Yesterday Underwear Shinpachi's Life Balmunk Fezarion Isaac Schneider One Thirds Pure Feeling Two Thirds Worried-Over-a-Hangnail Feeling Though Betrayal Knows My Name I Know The Unknown, The Cuttlefish Tastes Kind Of Different Than It Did Last Time Because It Was Caught Near The Pond And Served With Oil From A Hoofed Mammal, pepepepepepepepepepepep Bichiguso-maru.

The cursed Blu-Ray player and her kotatsu story. It goes from a gag where she's worried if she has turned her kotatsu off to a cliche domestic abuse story. Don't ask us how.

Paper-Thin Disguise: While, sometimes, the Yorozuya often reccur to this to not rise more suspicion from the Shinsengumi in some of their activities, Katsura is the only one who manages to fool them, even if he is just using an afro wig.

Parasol of Pain: The weapon of choice for the Yato clan; features bulletproof fabric, integrated machinegun and, of course, sun protection. Thanks to the Yato's strength, these have a huge size variety: Kagura's is normal in size, but Hosen's is about the size of a car!

Parody Names: Unfortunately, this is lost in translation, but this "Shinsengumi" is spelled with different characters from the real one. ("True selection corps" rather than "Newly selected corps".) More recognisably, many characters have the names of their real-life counterparts with a single kanji changed: e.g. Kondo Isao instead of Isami, Sakata Gintoki instead of Kintoki, Katsura Kotaro instead of Kogoro.

Perverse Sexual Lust: In-universe, Shinpachi starts a fistfight against someonenote Toshi, Hijikata's Otaku ego who tells him that loving an Idol Singer is about as realistic as this trope.

Pixellation: Used frequently to the point of ridiculousness. Pixellated vomit tetris anyone?

Yo dawg, I heard you like pixellation. So we put Madao in a pixellated shit body vomiting pixellated vomit on pixellated crap so everyone can become pixellated shit.

And since you like pixellation that much, we will feature a guy who is always covered in pixellated vomit, so Sorachi doesn't have to draw his face.

Platonic Prostitution: Gintoki is manoeuvred into this situation with Tsukuyo at the end of the Red Spider Arc after being promised free drinks. Tsukuyo assumes that she's supposed to sleep with him in gratitude for him saving Yoshiwara, but Gintoki is appalled at the suggestion and instead gets her to sit down and drink with him. It would have been a nice, friendly evening after that had it not been discovered that Tsukuyo has an extremely low tolerance for alcohol.

Reference Overdosed: Sorachi has claimed in the past that he tends to put lots of pop culture references in the series. His assistants may help, his editors... perhaps even Sunrise exaggerate them by a 300% in the anime.

Retro Gaming: Nearly everyone makes references to Dragon Quest and other famous game franchises throughout the series. Katsura in particular is a big fan of the Mega Drive and Famicon. Goes the distance in episode 167 where Tama gets sick and transforms into an 8-bit sprite, complete with Dragon Quest style dialogue windows, earning EXP from going shopping and an inventory full of standard Dragon Quest items like medical herbs and a cypress stick. Then again in 168, where the opening segment is a brief 8-bit game sequence starring Tama. The rest of the story arc is one big Dragon Quest parody.

Riding into the Sunset: Happens a lot at the end of an episode/arc to highlight the heartwarming aspect. Occasionally subverted for Gintama's trademark trolling.

Schizo Tech: Robots, laser cannons, and video games exist in what is otherwise Meiji-era Japan, leading to things like samurai fighting on spaceships, and bright Zeerusty towers literally next door to traditional Japanese houses. And even the robots come in "steam-powered tin can" and "ridiculously human" flavours, with nothing in between.

Self-Deprecation / Biting-the-Hand Humor: Everything about JUMP, especially the immaturity of its comics, is constantly mocked. Gin is treated as a loser for reading it, all glimpses we see of comics within it are scribble-quality, and any member of the Shinsengumi who reads it must commit seppuku to atone.

The author's commentaries in the compiled volumes are pretty much nothing but this, like a "how to draw" column that highlights his inability to draw more than one incredibly ordinary face, or saying that the unique aesthetic of the comic comes from the fact that it's "really poorly drawn". He also complains about his editor at every opportunity and at one point described working on a deadline as "walking a tightrope made of toilet paper across the Grand Canyon, and there's a monkey that looks like my editor peeing on the toilet paper".

The anime isn't better, they constantly talk about their poor rankings, lack of budget, and the production team.

Self-Serving Memory: Katsura and Hasegawa requires to this especially in the Zombrows mini-arc. Even lampshaded by Shinpachi pointing this in the manga panels.

Self-Parody/[Trope Name]: In one chapter, Gin gets sick and Kagura decides to take over his identity until he gets better. The result is a highly exaggerated parody of the story's usual formula:

Gintaman. The levity of the characters is almost entirely removed leaving something so gruff that's it'a hard to take seriously. To say nothing of how Gintaman was influenced by Gintoki lecturing the author of the manga (a gorilla) on comedy and how to write a popular shounen manga.

Serial Escalation: This series attempts to find out just HOW FAR they can make parodies out of any series. Episode 150 takes this to the extremes though with the infamous Neon Genesis Evangelion episode 26 where they literally copied almost frame to frame with Shinji and Shinpachi. To drive the point home, Hasegawa is in the same position as where Gendo was and both have the same seiyuu. Here's the video itself with a comparison.

Seppuku: Breaking any of the Shinsengumi's many rules is punishable by seppuku, which Hijikata ruthlessly enforces.

Shaggy Dog Story: Gin and Zenzo have an epic battle for the last copy of that week's JUMP...only to realise that it's actually a different issue.

The Shinsengumi: With bazookas. Chances are your impressions of the Shinsengumi will never be the same again.

Gintoki and Tsukuyo have had ongoing Ship Tease since Tsukuyo's introduction, most prominently in the Red Spider Arc which heavily teased the pairing. It even had Gintoki carrying Tsukuyo in his arms after freeing her from Jiraia's web.

Prior to Tsukuyo's introduction, Gintoki had ongoing Ship Tease with Tae. The umbrella scene in the Benizakura Arc is probably the most notable of these.

Tae and Kyubei are heavily teased in Gintama's openings and endings, which usually amp up the yuri subtext between the two quite a bit.

Shoo Out the Clowns: Throughout the gag episodes, even the main characters seem to have the default reaction to flee before danger, leaving their comrades behind (often followed by a Taking You with Me moment). However, when there's a serious arc going on, that behaviour is forgotten and they strive to protect one another in battle.

The Smurfette Principle: Averted. While the Yoroyuza Gin is a classic Two Guys and a Girl dynamic, there are plenty of supporting female characters who actively participate in the different story arcs of the series.

Spoiler Opening: Spoiler ending more like it, but why is Kyubei the only one wearing a Sarashi in the seventh ending (where all of the guys are featured shirtless)?

Spoof Aesop: This goes hand in hand with Idiosyncratic Episode Naming; many episodes are named such things as "When you're tired, eat something sour!" or "A life without gambling is like sushi without wasabi."

Strawberry Shorthand: "Listen up! Let's say you drink too much strawberry milk, and have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. But it's cold outside your bed. You don't want to get up, but the urge to urinate is just too strong! You make up your mind to go! You run to the bathroom, stand in front of the toilet, and let loose! You think that all your life has led to this moment! But then you realize! It isn't the bathroom! You're still in bed! That feeling of lukewarm wetness spreads like wild fire! But you don't stop! You can't stop! That's what I'm talking about! That's the truth of the strawberry milk! DO YOU GET IT!?"

Gintoki: Well, it's something like this: He fights with his rival and wins. (writes one arrow from Yamcha to Tien) Then become friends without knowing it. (writes another arrow from Tien to Piccolo) And a new rival appears, and he fights and wins again. (writes another arrow from Piccolo to Vegeta) And made a new friend... Repeating this and dragging it on is the standard JUMP formula. (Circles all the characters except Yamcha)

Konoshi: Oi! One persion is missing! Namcha?! Is that Namcha?!

Gintoki: Well, that's what the rival part is all about. (crosses Yamcha out)

Konoshi: Oi! Let him in! Let Namcha join in the JUMP system!

Gintoki: The next thing is... Let's talk about the comedy part. (kicks the board down, directly where Yamcha was)

Konoshi: NAMCHA!!

This may be an Affectionate Parody, as the creator was sent a long letter from a fan saying though Namcha isn't strong physically, he is still a strong character, as he strives to do what's right even though he isn't as powerful as the others. Sorachi's response? "I agree."

When Gintama came back in episode 253, and Gintoki was upset at how it began, he said "Last time I saw a first episode so bad, Gintama was back in six months!"

Episode 112 where Gintoki rants about when the next chapter of Hunger X Hunger is going to come out, obviously making fun of its indefinite hiatuses.

The Teaser: One episode of the anime focuses on the Shinsengumi for the first half of the plot, when the story eventually comes around to Gintoki he complains that the Title Sequence hasn't even rolled. Then the entire opening plays, in the middle of the episode.

This Is Reality: Probably the only time anyone's attempted to acknowledge the fourth wall (and it's made of balsa wood). In episode 169, the Yorozuya are attempting to cure Tama's illness. Because she's so obsessed with Dragon Quest, the arc is one big parody of the franchise, and at one point Shinpachi has to remind everyone that it's not really a game and they can't rely on standard conventions, such as save points, to get them through it.

The Shinsengumi is now an empire led by (Ba)Ka iser Sougo 'Sadistic' Okita III, the Demon Vice-Captain title is now held by Yamazaki, and Hijikata is a living embodiment of Good Is Dumb, but not really. By the way, they want to conquer Edo. Yeah.

Training from Hell: Parodied to hell and back in chapter 229 (or episode 147, if you're watching the anime) through total destruction of the fourth wall. "Go train in another manga, I've heard of some good ones."

Underground City: Yoshiwara is an underground Red Light District with its own laws seperate from the Bakufu. It was originally an underground shipyard where the Bakufu built its ships, but Yoshiwara and its residents were moved down there after its original destruction during the Joi Aar.

Unstoppable Rage: Kagura, under the influence of her baser instincts, when Abuto tries to kill Shinpachi. Gintoki also has brief but still terrifying moments of this when someone pushes enough of his berserk buttons- like with Jiriya, Jirocho, Sada Sada and Oboro.

Vitriolic Best Buds: Gintoki and Katsura. Also, Hijikata and Okita. Seimei and Doman seem to have turned into this by the end of their arc.

Weaksauce Weakness: The Yato Clan is one of the strongest species in universe, yet rays of sunlight tend to not treat them kindly. Hosen dried up after being suddenly exposed to sun, since he had been living under the ground for many years. Kagura in comparison merely gets weaker and dizzy if being outside without an umbrella, so they're probably generally adaptive.

We Help the Helpless: Since the Yorozuya literally takes on odd jobs, they end up helping all sorts of people and not always for money.

Wham Episode: Of a sort, several times. Many times, a serious arc will start off just as silly as regular arcs, only for something to happen which makes it clear to both the audience and the characters that the situation is much more serious than initially thought. Of course, it's also subverted in that once the serious arc is over, the series returns to it's usual formula, not affected by the events of the serious arc at all. Then the Shogun Assassination Arc happened, which contained several major and lasting twists, leading immediately into the following arc

The arc involves several near-deaths and a few faked deaths, while the Yorozuya and their allies finally get their big showdown with the Kiheitai. The major whams of the arc comes from certain revelations, the lasting changes in power between the competing groups, and to the surprise of many, the death of a major recurring character.

The change in power comes from Nobunobu betraying the Kiheitai by taking the Tendoshu's offer to become shogun, while Harusame betray Kamui and oust him as admiral. As a result, a major wrench was put in the Kiheitai's plan, and the group went on the run with a comatose Takasugi.

One major reveal in particular shocked readers: namely that Gintoki was the one who killed Shoyo! All to protect his comrades... No wonder Takasugi went bad.

The arc ultimately ends with Shigeshige assassinated... This time for real. The first time a major recurring character is killed in-series.

The Shogun Assassination arc is followed right after by the Farewell Shinsengumi arc, where the consequences of the previous arc have immediate effect, while also introducing its own whams.

Nobunobu begins abusing his new authority by having Kondo and Matsudaira arrested and sentenced to death. The Shinsengumi is also disbanded, its members scattered around Edo. On the brighter side, the Shinsengumi teams up with Katsura and the Yorozuya to counter this.

The first Tendoshu to be named, Utsuro, arrives on the scene and brings a whole new wham: He either strongly resembles or really is Shoyo himself. Even Gintoki is stunned as he removes his mask.

The arc does end on a sad, but less whammy note (though certainly impactful), as all the police organizations are officially disbanded, meaning that the Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi are considered rebels and need to leave Edo behind for the time being. However, this has left the Bakufu without much of a police force, weakening them considerably.

Wham Line: The end of Chapter 525 immediately follows up on the Wham Episode that was the Shogun Assassination arc:

Nobunobu: And so, I now decree that Katakuriko Matsudaira and your subordinate, Shinsengumi Chief Isao Kondo are sentenced to decapitation. And as of today, the Shinsengumi is disbanded.

What Did I Do Last Night?: Invoked with Sa-chan's first appearance, where she had fallen through Gintoki's roof and slept on top of him. Gintoki was drunk the day before and can't remember anything, so she uses that to her advantage to hide from her enemies. It's also the premise that starts off the Scandal Arc, with Gintoki getting absolutely wasted and sleeping with Otose, Tae, Kyuubei, Sa-chan, Tsukuyo and Hasegawa. It's subverted when it turns out to all have been a prank to get him to stop drinking, then double-subverted when it's revealed that Hasegawa was not in on it. Gintoki promptly heads to a bar to get drunk enough to forget he just learned that.

Wholesome Crossdresser: Gintoki as Paako and Katsura as Zurako. Averted with Mademoiselle Saigou and her girls. They're very wholesome, just totally unconvincing.

Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Gintoki's reliable Lake Toya, which despite being mere wood managed to cut through a spaceship's humongous cannon. It turns out that this is because it's some special super-hard alien wood, at least according to the commercials he orders it from.

Just name it, and, chances are, someone in Gintama's either done it or alluded to it. From Gintoki and Umibozu peeing on a dead wormlike alien (You Know What Happens if You Pee on a Worm) to Hasegawa wetting his pants and wearing a diaper to Hijikata zipping his pants and snagging the zipper on his private parts, a surprising amount of vulgar stuff happens. And of course, one has to mention Yoshiwara, the courtesan safe haven that even lets a kid run a toy store. In the Onmyoji Arc, a battle was literally fought with Gin's... tama (balls). The two fighters even gave them individual names. That last one was more of a Shout-Out to Sket Dance, due to the names they gave them.

Xanatos Gambit: Played for laughs of course since this is Gintama. The whole Popularity Poll Arc? All planned by YAMAZAKI!. He wasn't happy with his ranking so he started a war to get all the characters to reduce each other's ranking. Seeing as he wasn't the only one unhappy with his ranking, they almost did it without his help. The outcome of said war would help him either way.

You Shall Not Pass: Parodied in the first chapter. Gin lets them pass after a single page (And he survives!). Played more straight when Tsukuyo holds off her Hyakka to give the Yorozuya free reins to find Seita and reunite him with Hinowa.

Zettai Ryouiki: Tsu Terakado. Seems to be the standard fashion for teenage girls in Edo.

Kagura also wore them in the fourth ending, though it's relatively hard to spot. Her outfit in Yoshiwara also featured this.

The members of the Hyakka also wear these, usually fishnets.

Zombrow Apocalypse: Parodied in one episode where a special kind of virus strikes Edo, making those who are affected act like zombies... with the interests of useless old men who like to lay around all day and do nothing but play pachinko note a parody of Kochikame's protagonist Kankichi Ryotsu. Katsura immediately starts calling them 'zombrows' due to Genre Savviness and the unibrows they immediately sprout upon infection. It spreads quickly and soon only a handful of people are left. The situation looks hopeless, but because Gin already acts like a useless old man the virus passes him over and he manages to get everyone back to normal.

TV Tropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy